Quote:
Originally Posted by Instigator
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https://www.screamandfly.com/attachm...2&d=1530117736
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Instigator
....
https://www.screamandfly.com/attachm...2&d=1530117736
Sam LaBanco
1984 Cincinnati F1-V8 race.
Tom Posey stuffed it in the straightaway in front of the pit area. This was all that was left. The rest of the boat and engine were not recovered.
He was OK.
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Surprised it wasn't recovered, even today, dive down and rope it. Probably has been.
I guess this is the same boat..!!..
Toledo, Ohio 1984
Tom Posey #97 Velden/Abilene Marine/Johnson V8
Attachment 478499
Quote:
Originally Posted by lars strom
More from Cincinnati GP 1984.
Mercury T-4 racing vs OMC V-8 racing.
After a summer-long legal battle, Mercury and OMC reached an out-of-court settlement a month before the Cincinnati GP which allowed the Merc T-4s to compete against the V-8s on a one race, experimental basis.
Here is the full story..if you don’t want the read the full Powerboat story I can make it pretty short.
Mercury lost big time using the T-4 and the Wizard..(with twin Merc V6 powerheads)
Ben Robertson won in his #57 Burgess/Johnson V8. Barry Woods second in his #35 Molinari/Evinrude V8
After the race one of the OMC’s corporate executives couldn’t help but mutter under his breath after watching
the T-4’s self-destruct:
“They (Mercury) have been suing us all summer” he said in hushed tones, ” do you think we could bring a case against them for fraud?”
Thanks Mark Spencer
Better text to read here:
http://svera.se/blogg/mercury-t-4-ra...nnati-gp-1984/
The Wizard in Cincinnati 84..!!
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A few pictures more later.
I guess this two headed monster, was allowed to compete because it had one prop-shaft.Quote:
Originally Posted by lars strom
Instead of a dual engine rig competing against OMC V8.
https://www.screamandfly.com/attachm...5&d=1607197193
The London GP 1984 was under the UIM OZ class. No rules. (same thing happened there.)
Not sure what APBA class in Cincinnati 1984..but APBA later changed to only one crankshaft.
Still..did not matter..The Wizard was no good for circuit racing.
London 1984
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Cincinnati 1984.
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I showed up at that race right as they pulled that out of the river.
Just thinking I'm almost sure I've read that V8 was recovered, it's mentioned somewhere in a thread, possibly another site.
Wrong.
That is the twin V-6 Mercs they unsuccessfully chained together to chase the OMC 8’s.
Quote:
Originally Posted by FMP
Wrong lolQuote:
Originally Posted by Instigator
The OMC F1 V8 , scroll up
Mike Gwaltney
Attachment 478541
Pretty sure this is from F1-V8 race in Antwerp, Belgium 1985.
I raced one of the first Velden with safety cell there.
Not this one, mine was a different color.
Attachment 478559
@Watermark
Please help with more info..I guess 1984??
Thanks Sam LaBanco.
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There's 2 people (maybe 3) in this picture that Formula 1 guys can recognize.
Thanks Sam LaBanco.
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Dawn JohnsonQuote:
Originally Posted by lars strom
Mike was one of my instructors in 1979 at Johnson Service School in Waukegan.
https://www.screamandfly.com/attachm...4&d=1607281679
More OMC race engines never seen before from my friend.
After OMC designed and released the OMC "A" and 45SS race engines in 1986, APBA asked OMC to investigate/develop a mid-range race model. This 31.8 ci race engine was the result. It was boat tested by OMC and APBA drivers during the summer of 1987. Never had any gearcase durability issues with this one.
Attachment 478584
31.8 - 521cc OMC race engines.
Another Evinrude engine never seen before from my friend.
Thanks you so much.https://static.xx.fbcdn.net/images/e....5/16/2764.pnghttps://static.xx.fbcdn.net/images/e...5/16/1f44d.png
The Evinrude version was lighter weight and had a 14/19 reduction gearcase. As a result, it performed better on the boat than the Johnson version.
Attachment 478587
Johnson 31.8 boat test on hydroplane.
Attachment 478598
Sam LaBancoQuote:
Originally Posted by lars strom
I tested first one built, it was rigged wrong, I spun out in a corner and went out through the cockpit side. It was originally designed to be put on outboard hydro's. It's intended speed was to be in the mid nineties on a hydro. Lars you know who blew it over the second time out.
Lars Strom..NO..but please let us know..!!Quote:
Originally Posted by lars strom
Sam LaBanco..It was your friend who wants to stay private.!!
Lars Strom..HaaHaa thanks.:).
OMC’s Ziggy and the Johnson 31.8 race engine.
Attachment 478599
The Johnson 31.8 - 521 cc race engine being tested on runabout.
Attachment 478613
Fred Miller?
I know he was 33M for Michigan but no idea where he ended up.
I know at one point he was way up the food chain at OMC racing.
BTW, mid 70’s on a Hydro would put you mid pack in DSH against the MK 55’s.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lars strom
Quote:
Originally Posted by lars strom
....
https://www.screamandfly.com/attachm...4&d=1514038485
Sam, you are correct - it was 1984.Quote:
Originally Posted by lars strom
Thanks for sharing.
- Mark
Quote:
Originally Posted by Instigator
Yes, 33-V is Fred Miller. This photo is of Fred testing the Johnson 31.8 prototype at the OMC Fox Lake Test Center, summer 1987.
Fred took over as OMC's Manager of High Performance when Jack Leek retired.
Sam LaBanco next to the #27 B&H Hydro. This is from Lake Zurich, Illinois in early 1980's.Quote:
Originally Posted by lars strom
https://www.screamandfly.com/attachm...0&d=1607382331
Fred Miller left us a few years ago.
He was a great supporter of APBA racing.
Jim Jost
"Fred Miller and Paul Kalb were staples in stock outboard racing in the 60's. They both joined OMC and were in the race program"
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Yes..that's Ziggy (in the hat) next to the very special Evinrude 31.8 (521cc) race engine.
Attachment 478641
That is a lot of motor for that little boat
Jim NerstromQuote:
Originally Posted by lars strom
Michael J is standing next to an Offshore Race Engine based on the F1 V8 powerhead. Gearcase is a twin pinion shifting unit. Not your standard production 300 V8.
Jim JostQuote:
Originally Posted by lars strom
There were a number of these prototypes stored in an area of the Waukegan plant. When OMC went under and BRP purchased the assets and Waukegan was closed these engines were taken to a warehouse. I do not know what happened to them after that.
Ben toy.
Attachment 478671
I really tried my best to make mine look like the one on the box...but came up well short !!
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Famous Fred Miller story:
Our National Championships used to be a wk long.
It was like Woodstock.
Especially for a 20 something yr old.
Back then we all camped.
No one had an RV or could afford a hotel room.
So we all get their Friday night and set up our tents/camp sites.
There were tents everywhere!
Had to be a hundred of them!
That night, after we all went to bed a storm rolled in.
It wiped out our Woodstock!
The storm wiped out my tent and filled it w/water, and everyone else’s.
I remember the first view of our fellow campers the next morning and it was bad!
One or two standing tents, everything else was gone!
This was in Dayton Ohio at the Hydrobowl Lake.
They had a good PA that reached the entire pits/campground.
This was during Fred Millers prime. He was the man.
So us campers are all wandering around in a daze, surveying the damage when, someone comes on the PA and says:
”GOOD MORNING, THIS IS GOD!”
It was Fred on the PA and you could hear laughter as far as you could see!
Exactly what we needed to hear, when we needed to hear it, from who we needed to hear it from.
The man gave his life in support of boat racing.